In my aforementioned related application, I disclosed and claimed a Stirling engine employing a universal coupling arrangement of internal heat exchangers and regenerators. The present invention carries forth the advantageous principals set forth in that earlier disclosure but differs in that a single nutator and crank combination are employed in place of the dual inclined rotors of the earlier case, while maintaining the same relative motion of the working elements. However, this invention is not to be limited to the use of a crank, and other means to provide rectangular, eliptical or other patterns in place of circular movement to the nutator, may be used to control the relative displacement of the chambers, allowing a variety of compression/expansion parameters.
Though the earlier configuration may be more suitable in certain applications, especially those requiring heat exchange from a remote low temperature source, the present configuration offers certain advantages in other applications, especially but not limited to, those using radiated, contained, or adjacent high temperature heat sources. Examples of these latter applications are described hereinafter. The object of this invention is to further improve the effeciency power to weight ratio and cost of the prior concept for these applications.